Collecting What's Mine
by detectivejigsaw
Summary: Mr. Gold retrieves a precious object from his shop, and also gets a little bit of revenge. Then he and Belle have a much-needed talk. Angsty, sweet, all that good stuff. Was meant to be just chapter one, but people wanted more, so I obliged them.
1. Gold

**Like many others, I am writing this to express my frustration at what the writers of ****_Once Upon A Time_**** are doing lately regarding Rumple and Belle. I get that he did some pretty bad things, but Belle is his True Love, for heaven's sake. And after so many people have already left him-his father, Milah, Cora, Bae (though that one was his own fault)-it seems to me like he's really suffered enough. And it seems like he was doing so well in the beginning of season 3, so this is doubly frustrating. Even a poor spinner is entitled to some happiness. Okay, enough ranting; on to the angst!**

* * *

Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin/whatever he was supposed to call himself now slipped into his office. It was the night after he had seen Belle kissing that-that _skinhead_, and his blood still boiled to think of it. But he supposed it was just as well that she was moving on; she deserved to love someone worthy of it.

He shook his head, trying to snap out of wallowing in self-pity. Maybe turning Emma evil, and then finding the Author would make it all better somehow. But for now, he had something to find. Something very important that he wanted back. Something he still viewed as his, if nothing else in this shop was anymore.

It was right where he'd left it, in the cabinet. Gold slid the item out, cradling it in his hands. Just as he was about to slip out again, there was the sound of heavy feet, and a voice saying, "I'll just look back here for it, shall I?" And into the office came the aforementioned skinhead.

He barely had time to begin looking startled by the older man's presence before Gold flung a spell at him, freezing him in place. With a nod of satisfaction, he closed the cabinet door, and then, curious, he took a few steps towards the man who was vying for the affections of his wife.

_This could be a perfect opportunity_, the voice in the back of his head whispered. _Take his heart, and get him to stay away from Belle, even help with your and the Queens' plan. Or just crush it altogether, and eliminate the problem that way._

But this time he was able to answer with a firm, _No_.

There were many reasons why that was a bad idea at this time: it would interfere with the plan, because it might blow his cover, etc. But one that seemed ultimately important at the moment was that this man made Belle happy. Even though Gold hated the idea, the vestiges of his conscience were able to override the wrathful impulses of his curse, and stay his hand from the skinhead's chest. So instead, he did something almost as satisfying: setting his prize down on the desk, he curled back his fist, and then punched the other man dead in the face.

Because he was frozen, he was unable to resist, and was knocked flat to the floor. Flexing his now-stinging hand, Gold scooped up his prize, and hurriedly left the office, just as he heard Belle calling, "Will? Will, are you okay?" and the soft thumps of her heels on the floorboards meaning that she was coming to investigate the noise.

"Goodbye, Belle," he whispered, continuing to cradle their-his, now-chipped tea cup in his hand. Since it was probably all he had left of their relationship, he would fight to the death to keep it, and heaven help anyone who tried to take it from him; unlike with Moe French, this time he wouldn't hold back, because he would have no reason to.

* * *

It wasn't until he was two blocks down that he realized, with a bitter laugh, that he hadn't even thought to look for his dagger.

* * *

**I wrote this late at night, so it's definitely not perfect. But if you have criticism, please make it constructive. If you like it-well, I don't want to nag you to review, but I do strongly encourage it. It's meant to be a one-shot, and yes, I know it's also very angsty. That was rather the point.**


	2. Belle

**By popular request (2 people), I am continuing this story. This is probably going to be almost all AU, because I want Rumple to be able to have another chance, as I said before. Sorry if that bothers you, dearies, but I'm putting my own spin on this story (cue maniacal giggling). Well, on with the show!**

* * *

Belle was naturally very startled when she came into the office of the pawnshop and found Will lying on the floor, the bottom of his face covered in blood. Immediately she dropped to the floor and began checking to see if he was okay. Soon enough she had him sitting up, touching his nose gingerly, and groaning, "Bloody h***, what happened?"

"Do you remember anything? It looks...it looks a little bit like someone hit you."

"No, I don't remember. And I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything recently to make anyone want to hurt me. All I know is that one moment I was stepping in here, the next I was on the floor. Except..." he frowned for a moment in thought, "Except I thought I saw someone by that cabinet, I think..."

The Knave of Hearts shook his head. "Nah, it was probably nothing."

Belle looked at the cabinet in question. Then she said softly, "In this town, there is no such thing as 'probably nothing.'"

* * *

Finally she worked up the courage, after sending Will off for the night (he wasn't too badly hurt, just a rather nasty bloody nose, thank goodness), to look inside the cabinet, just in case anything had been added or taken away. And as soon as she peeked inside, her stomach dropped-THE CUP was gone. Only one person came to mind who would want it, and she felt angry with herself for the mixture of horror and joy which was stirred to life in her chest. But that didn't make sense; if he really was back in Storybrooke, why would he have spared Will's life when he was almost caught? It seemed more his style to just rip his heart out, like he'd done to Hook and Milah and almost anyone else who dared cross him.

_But not me, unless you count in the metaphorical sense._ She shoved that thought away; this was no time to get sentimental.

There was a way to find out...but maybe it was one of those women who'd mysteriously shown up; Ursula or Cruella. Or even Maleficent, who she'd heard was back from the dead now (was it disturbing that she wasn't even surprised by that?). Could one of _them_ have taken it? But why on earth would they want her-his-their chipped tea cup? And besides, just punching Will in order to knock him out wasn't really the style of any of the Queens. Too many contradictions, too many uncertainties...but finally Belle decided to take a leap of faith, and act on her hunch. So she went to her hiding spot, and dug out the Dark One's dagger.

* * *

**Yes, I am creating an evil cliffhanger. Bwa-ha-ha-ha and hee-hee-hee-hee. I'm sorry, but this is for your-and my-own good; it encourages you to keep reading, and maybe offer inspiration and stuff. Capisce?**


	3. Rumpelstiltskin

Rumple had not gone far, and was thinking of teleporting the rest of the way back to his cabin, when he felt a tug in his gut, indicating that someone had the dagger and was summoning him. Instantly he felt a pang in his heart; of course. Of course she would have figured out quickly enough that he had been the one to take the cup. He cursed himself for a fool for giving way to ridiculous sentimentality and not having the common sense to try to find the dagger while he had the chance. Now she would probably send him away with an extra order never to return or something, and any hope at all of a happy ending would fly out the window. And as appealing as it was, the thought of seeing Belle again in person, especially under these circumstances, scared him stiff. Not enough, though, as the tugging had become more urgent. He had no choice but to obey.

* * *

Belle waited several minutes after saying the words, "Rumpelstiltskin, I summon you!" with the dagger brandished high. She turned around several times, expecting him to be standing behind her, maybe lurking in the shadows, or about to appear in the doorway. But there was no sign of him. Had she been wrong? Or was he here, invisible, or something like that? With a sigh, she finally lowered the dagger. Just as she did so, the bell on the door of the shop rang; someone was coming in. Hiding the weapon, Belle slipped through the office doorway to see who it was-and gave a startled gasp.

"You called, dearie?" asked her husband with a smirk.

* * *

**I know this is short. Don't worry-the juicy stuff is on its way.**


	4. Beginning to Talk

Belle finally whispered, "You're here."

Rumpelstiltskin, whose face had descended into impassivity (just like it was when he'd sent her away from the Dark Castle, she realized), said, "Of course. Sorry, but you aren't going to get rid of me that easily." He made a sound like he was attempting to do his old high-pitched giggle, but it died soon after take-off, and he went back to that blank expression.

She stood there silently for a moment, holding the dagger, wondering what to do now. I mean, on the outside it seemed like the right thing would be what she'd done before: banish him from Storybrooke again, this time with orders never to return. Or in some other way stop him, if he was here working with the so-called Queens of Darkness (as she strongly suspected he was). Maybe just grill him for information. But all she could think of that she wanted to know about at the moment was: "You took the cup."

Rumple slowly produced it from his pocket. "Indeed I did." He held it tightly, apparently expecting her to demand it from him. But Belle just stood there, examining him, thinking about what that meant, and wondering what to do now. Despite her husband's attempt to not show expression, she could read him like-well, like a book. So she could see the fear in the back of his eyes, and the way his face muscles were trying their hardest not to twitch. And even though she was angry, _furious_ with him in fact, for lying, and planning on killing everyone else in town, and for trying to crush Hook's heart, even knowing that he had been a villain and it would probably be for everyone else's good to send him back out into the Land Without Magic-a thought came to her.

_Is this the sort of look he had while he was being controlled by Zelena?_

* * *

At that, all her righteous anger crumbled to dust, and left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. How could she not have considered that earlier? How? She knew what a horrible, traumatic time that had been for him, and how awful he felt about being in that woman's clutches. Being controlled by anyone else, even if it was someone he loved...even if it might be a bad idea, and even if she was probably going to regret it, slowly Belle left the doorway, coming up to the counter. Then, just as slowly, she shifted her arm to the side, and set the dagger down on the counter top. And then she drew her hand away, bringing it back to rest at her side.

When she was no longer holding the item that could control her husband, Belle saw his eyes widen, and then become relieved. And she knew before he did it that he was about to use a spell to grab the dagger and vanish, so she quickly said, "Don't! Please."

Rumple jumped like a startled rabbit, and stared at her again.

"Please, wait. I think-I think we need to talk."

Her husband laughed, bitterly.

"Oh, _now_ you want to talk? Now, after you didn't give me the chance, and threw me out of town?"

Before she could stop herself, Belle retorted, "Well, I guess that makes us even!"

Rumple gave her a look like a kicked puppy. "What?"

"Well-I-" Belle stuttered. Finally, she said, "Sorry. But it's true. You did throw me out once before. And now I've done it. So we're kind of-even."

The next laugh was slightly less bitter, as he conceded the irony of the situation. "Yes, I suppose so." The next words were filled with hurt again. "But unlike you, I didn't shrug my shoulders and move on to a new beau. Tell me, how long did you wait before taking up with the skinhead? One week, or two?"

Belle turned pale. "Will? You-"

"Oh, yes, I saw you, how good a time you're having with him!" Some of his anger leaked out, almost unleashing some of his magic with it.

Shocked, Belle snapped back, "It was just a kiss! Never anything further than that!"

"Why bother with abstinence?" he sneered.

"It was just because we thought it would help-"

"Help with what?!" The Dark One couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"Help me forget about the pain of losing you!" his wife shouted at him.

* * *

They stood there in silence for a moment, glaring, allowing the words to register. Rumple finally asked, "Did it help?"

"Not really. Not completely. He just reminded me you were gone. And I just reminded him of his loss."

"He's got someone?"

"Yes. But she's stuck in Wonderland, or something." Having calmed somewhat, Belle perched herself on the counter, but doing so in such a way that her husband wouldn't feel that she was about to grab the dagger any moment. Finally, the Dark One used his magic to make one of the chairs move to him, and sat down. It was sort of a parallel of when they'd sat that way before in the Dark Castle, but it made Belle feel too much like a judge overseeing a trial, so she got down and produced a chair of her own. She sat down so they were facing each other, and after a moment asked, "Where should we start?"

* * *

**Yes, dearies, where should they start? It seems like their pain and hurt has already been covered by several other writers, including the stories "Confrontation," by Mish, and "Remember," by Robin4 (which, may I add, are both excellent reads), but if you want, I'll continue and try to give this my own twist. I do have something in mind, if you're interested...**


	5. Pouring out Heart

She wanted to talk to him.

She hadn't sent him away, had even put the dagger aside.

Granted, she had still hurt him, horribly, but unlike Milah and Cora, she actually seemed to feel guilt for it, and was trying to make amends now.

Rumpelstiltskin made himself comfortable, and finally, though unable to look his wife in the face, fearing that she would get rid of him when she heard the truth (especially the reasons why he was here), began speaking.

"I had to kill Zelena. She killed my boy, and I'd promised to avenge him. I couldn't rest easy knowing she was alive. I couldn't promise not to kill her."

There was a pause, before Belle asked, "What about Emma? Was it fair to try to kill the woman your son loved, and who is the mother of your grandson?"

He flinched at the accusation, before finally whispering, "You don't know what it's like. You don't know how horrible it feels to be under the control of something, so that anyone who holds it becomes your puppet master. If you were, maybe you would be willing to do anything in order to be free of it too."

His wife made a small sighing noise, which he interpreted as disappointment. Without looking at her, he said, "I didn't particularly want to kill her. It just seemed like the only way I could be free."

Deciding to let it go for now, but resolving they really needed to talk about Rumple's problem of assuming that ends justified means, Belle asked, "Are you working with the women who've come here? Ursula and the others?"

The Dark One flinched again, more violently this time; however, Belle had trusted him to tell the truth without being compelled by putting the dagger down. He forced himself to say, "Yes."

"Why?"

"We're looking for the Author. And-" He stopped himself.

"And what?"

"...And we're thinking of trying to bring Miss Swan around to our way of thinking."

* * *

He expected a negative reaction, and was not disappointed.

"What?!" Belle leaped from her chair, staring down at him. "So you're going to-to darken her heart, or something?"

It was a bit of a leap, but his wife had always been a very intelligent woman. He said, "That was the thought."

"How can you do that?! How-"

"Because that seems to be the only possible way that I can ever get any happiness in this world!" Now he was standing too, and shouting. Belle stared at him out of impossibly wide blue eyes, but he was too busy pouring out what remained of his soul to thoroughly notice.

"Whether I try to be good or bad, it seems like I always lose everything that's important to me! I played the hero, and my son died. I played the villain, and you banished me. I lose either way, and so since there's already so much darkness in my heart, and because nobody here will ever accept me as anything but the evil Dark One anyway, I might as well be a villain, and be the best at it I can possibly be! Maybe with Miss Swan showing me-and the Queens of Darkness-a little bit of support, we can find the Author, and fix things so we can not be doomed to failure and loss!"

* * *

He sank back into his chair, exhausted from the outburst, putting his head into one hand in an attempt to put himself back together. What was the use? She wouldn't understand. She was one of the heroes. And heaven forbid the heroes ever see things from the villains' point of view. The chair across from him creaked, meaning that she was sitting back down, and then, unexpectedly, he felt the light pressure of a hand landing on his knee.

He looked up, and saw Belle staring at him. The disappointment was there, of course, but no hatred or condemnation. Instead there was sorrow, compassion, and a few other interesting ingredients.

"So that's it?" she asked softly. "You're just giving up any hope of change?"

He swallowed hard, and then croaked, "What else can I do?" A flash of deja vu covered his thoughts for a moment, making him think of when he'd asked basically the same question to his first wife, and received the angry reply, _"You could have fought. You could have __**died**__."_

Rumple prepared himself for something similarly condemning him for being a weak, cowardly nothing. Instead, Belle said, "You could let me help you. For real this time. I thought the monster was gone, and didn't consider that it wasn't enough for me to just want you to be better."

He looked up at her in utter shock. "Are you blaming yourself?!"

"Partially. You're not the only one who messed things up."

His heart lurched with hope at the thought that they could try again...but then he shook his head sadly.

"It's no good. I'm under a curse, I can't ever change completely. And if I got rid of the curse, I'd go back to being a crippled nobody who couldn't protect anyone who mattered to me."

The bitterness in his words made Belle squeeze his knee gently. Part of her wondered if this was another trick of his, trying to gain her sympathy, but she decided that it was worth the risk to believe him. She let him continue talking, because he needed to get all of this out.

"And like I said, to this town I'm the ultimate villain. They all hate me. They accept other villains who try to change, like Regina, Hook-they might even have accepted Zelena if I'd let her live. But not the Dark One. Probably even Henry hates me."

"No I don't," said Henry from the office's doorway.

* * *

**Sorry if Rumple sounds a little too self-pitying here. As I said before, these were all points that were already covered by previous authors; I tried not to be plagiarizing. Probably one more part to go, dearies! Prepare yourselves!**


	6. A New Deal

Both Belle and Rumple jumped, and stared in alarm at the boy, who couldn't help smiling a bit at their expressions.

"How-when-what are you doing here?!" Rumple finally spluttered.

"I saw you coming in here, and decided to find out what was happening."

"Does your mother-either of them-know you're out this late?" _Did you tell them, or anyone else, that I'm here? Even if they couldn't actually do anything to me..._

"I hope not," the boy answered with a grin. "Both of them would completely flip."

The Dark One and his wife couldn't help exchanging a glance that said, _He's your/my grandson, all right._

* * *

Henry slowly came all the way into the room, and they saw that he was holding that old fairy tale book of his. Was it Rumple's imagination, or did it seem a bit thicker than usual?

"I was angry with you at first when I found out that you'd tried to kill my mom, and all the other stuff," the boy said. "Really angry. But I thought about it a lot, and came to a few conclusions."

Rumple summoned a chair for Henry, who sat down and continued.

"First of all, you're still under a curse. The curse of the Dark One, which, as far as I can tell, not only gives you crazy powers, but also removes your inhibitions somewhat. So even though you still have the ability to make choices, they're often influenced by your curse.

"Also, my mom-the one I grew up with-is the Evil Queen. She's destroyed thousands of lives, killed her own father to bring us all here in the first place, and done a lot more horrible things. But I still love her, and can still forgive her, because she's family. By the same token, you're my grandfather. You gave up your own life to save me-and everyone else in this town-from Peter Pan. That doesn't cancel out what you've done recently, but it shows you're struggling to change."

_From the mouths of babes...or in this case, a twelve-year-old,_ Rumple couldn't help thinking.

"And finally, I was looking in here recently, and found this." Henry set the book on his lap, and opened it, flipping through the beginning until he came to a chapter towards the beginning. Both adults scooted over until they could see, and were surprised to see a chapter entitled "The Dark One's Dagger." To the side was an illustration of a peasant village, with soldiers in the middle of it forcing a young girl onto a horse. To the side of the picture was an old man with a walking stick, protectively holding a young boy against him. If she squinted, Belle could see that they were her husband and-presumably-Baelfire.

"I read through it; it's the story of how you became the Dark One. And it told me something important," Henry said. "All the other villains we've heard of-Zelena, Mom, Hook, Cora-they became villains for revenge on someone, basically doing it out of hatred. But you took the dagger because you loved your son, and wanted to protect him from being taken away to probably die in a war. And even when you chose power over him, you immediately regretted it and tried to fix it. That means that out of all the people we think of as the bad guys, even though you have the greatest power and ability to do evil, you also have the greatest capacity to change for good."

The Dark One looked at his grandson in astonishment.

"You really believe that?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded. "It's weird, though; this chapter wasn't in the book before. And the type setting's different. I think-" he paused- "I think there's another Author. One who wants you to get a happy ending."

* * *

That Rumpelstiltskin had kind of a hard time believing. But he decided not to shoot down the idea; it might have some merit to it.

"So I probably need to look for that one."

"Yeah, probably." The boy grinned, in a way that looked so much like Bae that the old (a lot older than he looked) man's heart hurt. Then he became serious again. "But going back to what's happening with you and the Queens of Darkness...is it really necessary for you to turn my mom evil?"

"No," the Dark One admitted. "But because of some of the circumstances of her birth, she has the capacity for it, and also, it just seems like a way to ensure we can get what we want."

Belle, who had been silently watching and listening all this time, suddenly spoke up. "What if we made a deal with you?"

Rumple glanced at her sharply. When she stared back in all seriousness, he asked, "What sort of deal?"

"We'll help you find the Author-either of them. We'll help you get your happy ending."

That definitely sounded good. And it was somewhat fascinating to be the one offered a deal for a change. But he finally asked, "And in return?"

This time Henry spoke up, having caught on to-well, I suppose I should call her his step-grandmother-his step-grandmother's way of thinking. "You help us. Warn us if anything particularly dangerous or horrible is going to happen. Keep the Queens from doing anything too destructive to this town, and if possible, from killing anyone. And from turning Mom to the dark side. Or if they do, make a clause or something that will let her change back."

The Dark One sat back in his chair and considered these terms. Finally he asked, "So you want me to be your double-agent?"

"Pretty much," said his wife, with a little smile.

He wanted to answer yes right away. But that (somewhat annoying) high-pitched voice that still remained in his head to remind him of his old days in the Enchanted Forest had to start chattering away, considering all the pros and cons of this deal, all the potential dangers of being caught, or double-crossed, or hurt again. But somehow, he won out enough to finally say, "Deal."

* * *

Henry broke into a grin that seemed about to split his face in half. "Great!"

Then he looked at his watch, and gaped at the lateness of the hour. "I should probably get going. If Mom wakes up and checks on me, she'll be worried."

Rumple didn't bother asking which one; it didn't matter, because the result would be the same for both of them. He stood up, and said, "I can use a spell to send you home. If the Queens found you, they might try using you for leverage."

"You can do that?" his grandson asked, eyes going wide with surprise.

"Of course." The Dark One smiled a bit. "It would be easier to transport myself, but I can do it. Which place are you staying at?"

"My Emma-mom. Thanks." Henry stood up, setting the book aside on the chair for a moment. Then he went to Belle and hugged her.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this," he said reassuringly. "It can be Operation Cobra: Phase 2."

They all chuckled at the memories that dredged up; even if Mr. Gold and Belle hadn't been directly involved in Operation Cobra, they'd heard the story before. Rumple stood up too, preparing to send Henry off; but before he could, the boy turned around and hugged him too.

The Dark One stared down at him for a moment, then sent Belle a rather pleading look, the sort that asked, _What do I do now?!_

Unable to resist rolling her eyes the tiniest bit, Belle made a small circling motion with her arms, and gestured for him to do the same. Hesitantly, Rumpelstiltskin complied. He held his grandson for a moment, before finally feeling him starting to step back, and promptly released him.

"Thanks for coming back, Grandpa," said Henry with a grin as he retrieved his book. "You make things more exciting."

Rumple just smiled, before using a spell to make him rematerialize in his bed at the Charming's.

* * *

Once the boy was gone, however, there was an awkward silence between husband and wife. So much more still needed to be said between them; so many more wounds needed to be patched up. It was hard to decide where to start.

Finally, Belle spoke up. "You can keep the cup, if you want it."

Rumple pulled it back out of his pocket. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He slid it back in. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry I betrayed your trust," Belle said after a moment. The thought had been hanging over them like an ugly black cloud; she needed to get it out in the open.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing for that, sweetheart," he answered softly. "I did it far worse."

"That doesn't make it right for me to have hurt you. I just-I was hurt that you kept lying to me, and were taking advantage of my trust in you. But I shouldn't have forced you away and then just tried to rebound from it."

"I'm sorry too," the Dark One admitted.

Then he said abruptly, "I need to get back; the Queens might get suspicious if I'm gone for too long."

His wife stood up hesitantly, looking straight at him. Then, in an unexpected move, she turned and picked up the dagger from the counter. Fear came in a hot rush up and down Rumple's spine, causing bile to leap into his throat; she was double-crossing him, she was going to send him away or lock him in another cage, or-

Belle placed it in his hand.

"If they ask, you can have a reason for being gone so long. You were getting this back."

Relief crashed down in a cooling wave, and he gripped the weapon tightly. He finally asked, "You really trust me not to misuse it?"

Belle paused, then admitted with a shake of her head, "I don't know. But I do know that my holding the dagger-or thinking I had it-just messed everything up. And that you need the freedom to make choices for yourself."

Rumple conjured up a belt with a sheath, and put the dagger away in it, enabling him to hesitantly (even more so than with Henry) put his arms around Belle. To his further relief, she hugged him back at once, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Thank you," he whispered. And privately, he resolved to not misuse it, no matter what. He conjured up an image in his mind of the look on Belle's face when she'd sent him out of Storybrooke, to remind himself of what could possibly happen if he failed her again.

"I'll tell Will that I don't think it's going to work between us," she said.

He chuckled. "Thank you for that, too. If you're sure you want to end things with him."

"I do." Belle pulled back a bit so she could look at him; there was a question in her eyes. "Speaking of Will...why did you punch him? Why not take his heart? I mean-I'm glad you didn't. I just want to know."

Rumple swallowed, then admitted, "Because he made you happy. And you deserve someone who can do that."

She had to swallow down a lump in her own throat. Then she stood on tiptoe (rather difficult, considering those enormous heels she always wears)-and then it all went wrong somehow. I mean, she'd only been intending to kiss her husband on the cheek, as a small, sentimental gesture. But at the same time, he started turning his head to see what she was doing. So somehow they ended up mouth to mouth. And the kiss ended up lasting a lot longer than they meant it to.

Finally they broke away; Belle, unglazing her eyes, said, "We still have a lot to talk about."

"I know," her husband murmured. "But we can do that tomorrow night, or whenever else I can get free, if you want."

"I want." She hugged him again, realizing he'd become thinner while he was gone, and feeling guilt for being the one to cause that. Then she stepped back, much as she hated to do so.

Rumple looked down at the dagger at his side, and asked, "How should I explain this?"

Belle shrugged. "You can think of something. Heck, say you disguised yourself as Hook and persuaded me to give it to you."

Her husband chuckled. "That's not a bad idea, actually." Then he looked up at her. "I'll see you soon. And I'll try again to be better, promise." Then he vanished, in a puff of violet smoke. And Belle, feeling happier than she had in weeks, began locking up the shop. She and her little family had a lot of planning to do.

* * *

**I think this is as far as I want to go. I hope you like it. It's a little mushy at the end, but hey, sometimes I'm a sucker for mushiness. Also, I figured the story of how Rumple became the Dark One wasn't in the book originally, since in Season 1 Henry didn't know who Mr. Gold's Enchanted Forest counterpart was.**

**I would like to thank NeriahSullivan 1 and Francisco Rose for encouraging me to continue this. I'd just meant it to be a story where Rumpelstiltskin punched out Will Scarlet, and ended up turning it into a reunion and reconciliation story. Isn't life ironic sometimes?**


	7. The Real Ending

**Okay, I know I said I was going to end this with the last chapter, but I had to add this last little bit in, because it seemed more fitting with Rumpelstiltskin's personality. And once again, I may have been forced to tweak a few story details to fit what I wanted to happen.**

* * *

The next night, Jefferson had finished putting Grace to bed, and was just thinking of going to bed himself, when a voice said, "Are you busy?"

He whirled around, and saw none other than Rumpelstiltskin leaning nonchalantly against the wall, smiling that smile that made people alternately want to run away really fast or strangle him.

"What do you want?"

"Your help, of course." From behind his back the Dark One produced a large, familiar top hat. The sight made the realm-jumper's throat constrict uncomfortably.

"Where did you-"

"Never mind where it's from. All that matters is that I need you to get rid of someone for me."

Jefferson's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, what?"

Rumpelstiltskin then produced a photograph of a tall man with close-cropped hair. "His name's Will Scarlet, and I need you to take him home to Wonderland."

As soon as he said that, the Hatter took a step back, exclaiming, "No!"

* * *

Rumple sighed inwardly; he should have remembered that Wonderland would hold unhappy memories for this man.

"You wouldn't even have to go into the hat. Just send him through."

"Then one person would have to come back. No, I'm not doing that again. I have my daughter back now, I'm not going to risk losing her. Absolutely not."

The curse roared for him to threaten the man, threaten his child, his house, tell him he'd lose them all if he didn't do what he wanted. But he brought back the image of Belle's face, of her sending him away, of the disappointment she'd feel if he broke his promise...again. So he contained himself, and finally said, "I've done a few adjustments to it. Nothing will be able to come back through the hat unless I wish it. It's perfectly safe."

Jefferson still looked suspicious. And then he asked, "What's in it for me? You don't have anything I want."

"But I might in the future. So I'll-" he swallowed, as if the very words choked him- "I'll owe you a favor."

The hatter, already looking bemused, practically had his eyes popping out of his head. He finally said, "You must want to get rid of this man very badly. What's so special about him that you can't do it yourself?"

Instantly the Dark One's face became cold. "That's my business, dearie. Is it a deal or not?"

* * *

Of course, the next time Rumple came to see her, Belle was curious as to why Will had suddenly vanished from Storybrooke.

"You didn't-didn't hurt him, did you?"

He wasn't surprised she instantly worried that. Hurt, maybe, but he knew why she'd think that, based on past experience.

"No, Belle. I just found someone who could take him home."

She smiled. "That was very sweet of you."

"Not really. I just wanted to get rid of a rival." He forced himself to be honest.

"But at least you did it in a way that would help him be happy. That's progress."

The Dark One gave his wife a crooked smile, and they continued planning their strategy for how to get rid of the Queens.

* * *

**Okay, this is the end of the story for sure. I may write more in this world in the future, but until then, ta-ta, dearies!**


End file.
